[O]nce upon a time, if I wanted to publish a book as strange and niche as Clockwork Phoenix, I would have had to live with the idea that I was going to lose thousands of dollars of my own money and hope that, despite limited resources, I could put on enough hustle to recoup at least a little of what I spent. Crowdfunding puts the hustle right up front, cast out to a wide audience, and if you make your goal, then you start out with everything paid off and your book pre-sold — so long as your budget’s solid and you’re solidly committed to giving your backers everything you promised them.

And tangentially:

[P]eople fret about relying on Kickstarter to support a long-term project like a magazine, and that’s understandable: if you don’t make your goal, you’re done. (Indiegogo, I imagine, mitigates this effect somewhat, since you get some of the money you raise regardless.) But you know what? These days, the traditional subscription model isn’t any more reliable — unless you enjoy death by slow attrition. People respond to crowdfunding campaigns; maybe it’s the time limit that makes all the difference.

My thanks to IAF board member Deborah Atherton for the chance to stand on a soapbox.